09-14-2020, 07:54 AM | #141 |
Drives: Hyper Blue 2016 2SS 6M Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: North Ga
Posts: 1,786
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Don't lose sleep over the LS7 lifters. Mine have been installed for around 10k fairly hard miles (~6 track days) without issue. Swap them out when it's time to re-shim or replace your springs and you'll likely be okay.
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Baby Blue
2016 Hyper Blue 2SS/6m/MRC/NPP/Silver Rally stripes/ZL1 wheels & brakes/GForce DS and axles/ZLE Cradle Bushings/FE4 ARB front & rear/SEMA Grill/Rotofab dry/95mm TB/Magnuson 2300/Full LT4 fuel system/JMS boost-a-pump/E85 Sensor/Ported CID heads from LME/Cammotion PD cam/Thompson Motorsports forged shortblock/catted Kooks 1 7/8 headers /JRE remote tuned |
09-14-2020, 08:23 AM | #142 |
Drives: 2019 Camaro 1LE Shock Candy Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Garage
Posts: 1,755
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Congrats man, that was a long haul. Success is success no matter how you got there.
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LT4 1.7 Supercharger snout ported & Meth
103 Katech TB, KATECH Custom Heads TSP Headers, Spec P Super Twin Clutch, TSP EL C7 CAM Diamond Piston & Manley Rods, Roto Fab Big Gulp BTR Push Rods,LS7 Lifters, ARP, FI Chiller, Kirkey Seats SJM Line Lock, Hurst Pistol Grip. 747/739 RWHP street tune - 821/794 RWHP track tune 98 octane. 2014 Mini Cooper countryman S All4 M6 daily driver |
09-14-2020, 10:17 AM | #143 |
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Agreed! Props to you for tackling this yourself. It has to be a good feeling to have the car running right and know it came from your own hands. I'm sure JRE will help you get the tune dialed in.
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2016 Camaro 1SS Hyper Blue 6MT NPP
2010 Camaro 2SS Cam/Headers/CAI/3.91 gears 476 rwhp/440 rwtq (sold) |
09-14-2020, 12:34 PM | #144 |
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Posts: 803
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Kudos to you!
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09-24-2020, 11:25 AM | #145 |
Darth Martel
Drives: Black 1SS with 20% tinted windows Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bizzaroland
Posts: 1,496
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This project is now complete. My tune is finally dialed in and everything is now running as it should be. I dropped my car off at the installer on July 6th. That's 80 days to get this project done and my car to run how I intended. Lessons learned...
When ordering parts or a kit, do not settle for generalities. Ask exactly what parts are contained in the kit. Get part numbers and specs. Verify what is shipped to you is what's supposed to be included in the kit. DO NOT ASSUME anything. My assumption was that the highly reputable company I've been working with for 10 years would send me a kit where all the included parts were specifically spec'd out to work together. A simple substitution of lifters where the kit's original specs were not matched is what screwed up my whole build and cost me weeks of downtime, an extra $1300 in labor costs, and many unpaid hours of labor of me personally tearing the engine down to the point where I could swap out the lifters, then put it all back together. All completely unnecessary. This could have been avoided if I insisted on getting all the information about the parts included in the kit and verified it's what I was shipped. It could have also been avoided if who I ordered the kit from was upfront about the substitution of parts with mismatched specs. At that point, I could have communicated that to my installer and he could have done preload checks and then ordered appropriate length pushrods. This could have also been avoided if my installer simply done preload checks to verify pushrod length matched the pushrods we were sent in the kit. I think the common theme here is assumption. All parties made assumptions and I was the one who ended up paying for them. Both in cold hard cash and in physical and mental strain/stress. Another important lesson is that your definition of doing the right thing and doing right by the customer will most likely not match up to those you purchase from and/or who you pay to do a job. The company I bought the parts from and shipped me substitute parts with mismatched specs did finally come through and provide the parts originally spec'd in the kit. BUT, they did not compensate me for the extra labor costs in replacing the failed lifters, nor for me having to replaced all of the lifters myself. They couldn't even do me the solid of providing me the upgraded Johnson 2110 lifters I requested. Therefore, I'll probably end up replacing the LS7 lifters at some point down the road and go through the whole tear down and rebuild process again. Instead of taking responsibility for this, they shifted blame to Texas Speed and to my installer for not doing preload checks. They took no responsibility for not verifying the lifters they sent me worked to the specifications of their designed kit. Their own GM certified master mechanic failed lifters as well. Which tells me he didn't do preload checks either. Mistakes happen. Screw ups happen. When providing parts and selling kits to customers, when those screw ups happen, that company should make it right for the customer. To act like they were doing me a favor by finally sending me the correct lifters that were supposed to be in the kit and not charging me for them was shocking to me. Any talk of compensation for the wasted labor costs or for my own work to replace the lifters was immediately rejected or shifted to somebody else. They assumed no responsibility. That's just not good business practice to me. Thing is, I'm not anti JRE now. They do the research and put in a ton of work in maximizing performance out of our cars. I'm proud to have a JRE tuned Camaro. I think they and PRAY are probably the top 2 out there. But, this experience has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth from a customer perspective. I feel the same about my installer. While I paid him to simply install the parts I provided, I'm torn on his failure to do any preload checks. Yes, it was all a kit and should have been spec'd out to just all work together but, from the comments I read here, any reputable installer would have done preload checks. I even mentioned preload being something to look at after the 2nd lifter failed. At that point, he should have done preload checks. Instead, he replaced the 2nd failed lifter and told me to come pick up the car even though I had a very noticeable ticking noise. He told me there wasn't anything more that he could do. WRONG! There wasn't anything more he was willing to do. Huge difference. It's obvious the lifter and pushrod combo was mismatched. I think any reputable mechanic/installer would have questioned that after the first lifter failure and definitely would have questioned it after the 2nd. But, to be told that the preload was a concern and not look into it further after the 2nd lifter failure? There's something wrong with that. And taking money from me and delivering a car with a blatant and obnoxious ticking coming from it is piss-poor customer service. He even said he wasn't happy with the way it sounded. OK, well do something about it. He just took my money and sent me on my way. Needless to say, that will be the last time he sees me. Moral of the story is check into what kind of warranty comes with parts you buy and work people do for you. And check the experience level of whoever you're looking at to work on your car. Talk about the game plan beforehand and how they plan on tackling the project. Don't just trust anybody to do it and think they'll take care of you if there's a big problem.
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2016 Black 1SS w/ MRC, low-gloss black wheels, auto trans. Self-created custom Dark Knight Edition accents. Rotofab CAI with dry filter and sound tube delete, PRAY ported intake manifold and throttle body, Texas Speed cam, Stainless Works headers and exhaust, Skid Mark garage E85 kit, JMS fuel pump voltage booster, Circle D torque converter. Custom E85/mod tune by Jannetty Racing.
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09-24-2020, 03:38 PM | #146 |
Drives: BVM 1SS Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Columbia-Sumter- Florence, SC
Posts: 460
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Who are these people you worked with so that I may avoid.
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09-25-2020, 05:54 AM | #147 |
Darth Martel
Drives: Black 1SS with 20% tinted windows Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bizzaroland
Posts: 1,496
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My installer? He's here in Indy and I don't think he'd pop up on any list of recommended places to get your car worked on. He was a friend of a friend. I've got to take some blame for not vetting the guy and discussing how he would do everything. Part of that was ignorance about what should be done and the other part was assuming he knew what to do and would do it.
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2016 Black 1SS w/ MRC, low-gloss black wheels, auto trans. Self-created custom Dark Knight Edition accents. Rotofab CAI with dry filter and sound tube delete, PRAY ported intake manifold and throttle body, Texas Speed cam, Stainless Works headers and exhaust, Skid Mark garage E85 kit, JMS fuel pump voltage booster, Circle D torque converter. Custom E85/mod tune by Jannetty Racing.
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10-10-2020, 07:04 PM | #148 |
Shifts under load
Drives: 2020 Camaro 1SS 1LE rally green Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Fuquay-Varina, NC
Posts: 1,295
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Darth, glad to hear you got it somewhat straightened out!
Now we just need a good list of parts for a sub 600 lift cam (for those of us who daily drive and aren't chasing the maximum HP possible at 7200 rpms with a crap ton loss of torque down low), proper valve springs, rockers, pushrods, etc. Or is the only way to do it to measure with a push rod tool the length needed, then order them separately? Looks like Cam Motion is a great option. I'm far from an expert, but I was looking at springs closer to the lift of the cam, like .625 springs (Comp 26918 or PSI 1511) or something comparable. I'm also considering just having Pray or someone comparable, port my stock heads, install the LT2 intake, 95MM ported TB, and the rest of the bolt on game and see what it does.
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24 Audi S3 prem plus, sport package
HPDE - southeast - JTI- solo, PCA- blue. 22 Suzuki GSX-S 1000GT blue |
10-12-2020, 06:12 AM | #149 | |
Darth Martel
Drives: Black 1SS with 20% tinted windows Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bizzaroland
Posts: 1,496
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That was pretty much how I went about my build. I started off with headers/exhaust, CAI, and ported IM/TB. It basically opened up my engine's air pathway. Allowed more air in and to flow out. I knew I wouldn't be doing a supercharger any time soon so, 1and7/8th headers was fine as opposed to 2". But, opening up the air intake with porting the TB and IM combined with a CAI is a good start. It doesn't add much in power but, it does give a more aggressive sound. My first real boost in power came from the e85 conversion. Best bang for the buck mod I can suggest. Some might suggest meth injection but, I don't know the cost breakdown on that. This CAM upgrade in combination with a Circle D torque converter is a good stopping point for me unless I come into some money and decide to throw a blower on. I'm definitely faster than stock Camaros out there and the sound is perfect, in my opinion. Also, in my opinion, if you're going to do a CAM, the smooth idle CAM is the best of both worlds. Yeah, it's above 600 lift, 632 I believe. But, tearing down the top of the engine to install a CAM and new lifters is something you only want to do once. Even if you're not doing the work yourself, the labor costs are ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, they earn every cent of the labor costs but, it's expensive. I just look at those labor costs as money that could have gone to a different mod. I could have done ported heads if not for the labor costs of the install. So, something to consider when planning your build and budget.
As my son grows older and I begin to teach him about cars/engines, tearing the top apart again and getting the heads ported would probably be a fun project. Maybe a blower by that point too since that's gotta be, at least, 10 years away. The nice thing is that whatever mods I may do in the future, I have a solid foundation already with what I've done so far. Everything kinda builds off of eachother and supports the next mod. For the budget minded modder, I think that's the best and most cost effective route to go. Do it incrementally as you can afford. Quote:
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2016 Black 1SS w/ MRC, low-gloss black wheels, auto trans. Self-created custom Dark Knight Edition accents. Rotofab CAI with dry filter and sound tube delete, PRAY ported intake manifold and throttle body, Texas Speed cam, Stainless Works headers and exhaust, Skid Mark garage E85 kit, JMS fuel pump voltage booster, Circle D torque converter. Custom E85/mod tune by Jannetty Racing.
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